Anyone can be a leader – at least the kind that tells other people what to do. It takes a truly special person, however, to be the kind of leader that others want to follow. In order to be successful as a manager you should be the kind of leader your employees and team members look up to.

Here are a few things you should keep in mind as you develop your leadership potential:

5. Lead Yourself

Anyone can give out orders, but not everyone can follow his own. A “do as I say, not as I do” type of attitude will not endear you to your employees. Practice what you preach and your team members will follow.

4. Participate

A good leader doesn’t sit back and do nothing while his team members do all the work. Great leaders play an important role in the planning and execution of any plan. You’ve taken the time to build a great team – now take the time to work with them.

3. Listen

Just because you’re the leader doesn’t mean you have the only (or best) ideas. Listen to the feedback your team members give you and take it into consideration as you plan your next project. Taking advice from your team members doesn’t mean you’re incompetent. It means you’re open to new thoughts and ideas.

2. Commit Yourself to the Company Goals

You shouldn’t expect your employees to be loyal to the organisation if you’re not. Take a look at your company’s goals, objectives, and mission statement. Are you working towards meeting those goals with every action? If not, reevaluate the impression you’re sending to your team.

1. Learn from Your Mistakes

No one is perfect. We all learn from our mistakes and move on. Accept that you are not immune to error just because you’re in a leadership position. As a matter of fact, use your mistakes as a learning experience for your team.

Remember, your subordinates are watching you at all times. It’s not what you do, but the way you handle yourself that they’re going to focus on the most. Are you prepared?

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

The Directed Creativity Cycle is an interesting theory regarding how we observe and work within the world. This particular management model explores how business persons combine both creative and analytical thinking skills to generate new ideas that can be applied to life situations.

Each and every one of us prepares for life as we live it. We observe what is going on in the world around us and form an analysis about what is going on. We take what we have learned and then use our imaginations to generate new ideas that allow us to solve problems. Before taking action, we take a personal inventory of the ideas we’ve created, judge which are best, enhance the best ideas, and then evaluate which will work best. Once we decide which are best we can then implement and live with the new plan.

Whether we realise it or not we all cycle through each step of the directed creativity cycle. We all think carefully in order to make calculated movements that will impact our lives, our leadership abilities, and our relationships.

Of course, research on the directed creativity cycle doesn’t discuss whether or not the “imagination” really exists, assuming only that it does. It also assumes that the creation of new ideas is only worthwhile if they become reality. These ideas, of course, are a matter of interpretation, but if one is able to creatively come up with new ideas that allow them to function in the world, who are we to argue?

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

We talk about acting as leaders all the time, but what I don’t know is whether or not you really understand what leadership is. The concept of leadership is actually two-fold.

Leadership is about your ability to influence your organisation, specifically your teammates and peers, in order to achieve a common business goal. As a leader, you should be able to influence your peers without it seeming as though you’re trying to guide them in a certain direction. You should never be forceful. I think that if you have a passion for what you do, others will become naturally inclined to follow you.

Let’s look at an example of effective leadership. As a manager, you can sit down and create a plan for your next team project. You’ll sit down with the group and explain what needs to be done, but at some point you have to shift mindsets and become a leader instead of a manager. The leader in you has to share his vision and point his team in the right direction. A manager maintains control of a project, while a leader keeps his teammates motivated.

In order to be successful, you must be both a manager and a leader. Which are you? Do you lean towards one side or the other, or do you find you have established a pretty even balance between the two? Look at yourself and your relationship with your employees and determine what you might need to do to become a better leader.

Remember, it’s about sharing your vision without force! Have a great weekend…

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”

When an employee is struggling, do you offer tips and advice? What about when you assign a team member a new project? Do you just hand it to him and let him figure out the instructions on his own? Coaching your employees is a fine art, and if you do so incorrectly you’ll be left with a rather ugly mess in your lap at the end of the day.

Today I offer three quick tips for effective leadership and coaching of your employees:

1. Ask lots of questions. Asking questions allows you to judge the skill levels of your employees but should be done tactfully so as not to embarrass someone who doesn’t know an answer. Ask open ended questions as opposed to yes or no questions. Yes or no questions almost always lead to disaster, as no one wants to answer “no” and risk sounding silly.

2. Are you offering constructive criticism? Stop before you criticize. Are you going to formulate a critique based on the fact that your employee is doing something incorrectly, or is it simply not the way you would accomplish the task? Even if your employee is doing something wrong you can’t just dive in and rip a project apart. You need to formulate a plan for constructively pointing out his errors while offering tips for correction or a more effective strategy. In short, no yelling, grumbling, or making people feel bad.

3. Remember that everyone is different. It has been scientifically proven that there are a number of different learning styles. Some people need to hear instructions, while others are better reading them. Others may need to experience a task first-hand in order to remember how to accomplish it. Keep in mind that you can’t use the same coaching strategy for each employee. You’re going to have to get to know each of your team members individually in order to determine which method of coaching will work best.

Keeping these things in mind as you coach will enable you to make a better connection with your employees. When you are able to connect with them, you’ll find that jobs will get done faster and with fewer errors.

Thanks again,

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”